The Wayward Realms from OnceLost Games is an upcoming RPG being led by some of the original creators of The Elder Scrolls and will serve as a spiritual sequel to The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. I recently had a chance to speak with them about the game and how it is coming along.
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The Wayward Realms is described as a Grand RPG, how would you explain that to someone unfamiliar with the idea?
The concept of the “Grand RPG” is about bringing tabletop gaming values into video games. It’s our belief that tabletop games hold certain values that make for creative, fun, endless possibilities. We are specifically crafting our game around the values of Scope, Choice, Consequence, & Role-playing. A “Grand RPG” should allow for a massive size world (Scope), a responsive world full of player-reactivity and emergent gameplay (Consequence), and ultimate player freedom in how one chooses to play and how they interact with the world (Choice & Roleplaying).
How did the idea to make The Wayward Games come about? What other ideas did you have before?
Ted Peteson & Julian Lefay have been friends for years and were former colleagues at Bethesda. They crafted the Elder Scrolls 1 & 2—Arena & Daggerfall—together, and nearly 30 years later, Ted & Julian reunited while discussing what they would like to see done differently in the RPG genre. They both had similar directional visions for how RPGs could allow for greater player freedom and fun, and the idea of The Wayward Realms was born.
The Wayward Realms is a spiritual sequel to The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall, one of the greatest RPGs of all time. Are you adding ideas you had wanted in that game but were unable to do back then?
Definitely. Technology has improved greatly since the release of Daggerfall, which has allowed us to create something we really would have liked to for Daggerfall, but simply wasn’t possible then. Now it is, it’s an exciting time for gaming and for us. Most notably, we’ve been able to create the VGM using recent advancements in the field of AI (LLMs), which simply did not exist during Daggerfall’s development.
Related to the Elder Scrolls question above, are you planning to incorporate ideas from the original plans for the third game before it went in another direction with other creative leads?
Yes and no. While the Elder Scrolls has been undeniably successful since Morrowind, and we love those games too, we have a vision for something different. Whilst we aim to explore the design philosophies that were present in III’s original incarnation, we are keen to create and explore our own distinct world.
Additionally, our focus is more similar to those of tabletop games such as D&D, and of course, Daggerfall, where the world is massive and filled to the brim with factions and interesting individuals, all with their own unique stories.
Do you feel The Wayward Realms has the spirit of The Elder Scrolls, or has it become its own thing? And what would you define as the spirit of the Elder Scrolls, at least the ones you worked on?
They are certainly different spirits. Elder Scrolls is a phenomenal game series, and has evolved much over its lifetime. Skyrim, for example, is designed to bring newcomers into the RPG crowd, and it did so fantastically. There are plenty of non-gamers today who know and have played Skyrim. Our spirit is more focused and niche, we’re catering to the original RPG nerds—those seeking the nostalgia from complex, unique worlds that felt amazing to explore and conquer difficult challenges in.
What was it like creating a new world for the game in terms of setting, lore and characters?
Tons of fun! We get new creative ideas every day, and the community has a blast sharing their ideas as well. We’ve even incorporated crab men as a part of our lore due to overwhelming community demand. There are challenges in making sure the absolute abundance of lore aligns—as is common with world-building—and in keeping the fantastical things like magic grounded and believable.
To add to the above, what other RPGs have influenced The Wayward Realms in its development? And For that matter, what other inspirations in general have there been?
A large portion of our design inspirations come from tabletop games—as was commonplace during the era of Daggerfall’s development—but there are a few games that have seeped their way in. Those being the original Thief games, Dark Messiah, Baldur’s Gate I & II, Fallout 1, 2 & New Vegas, and a whole host of slightly more obscure titles. As far as general inspirations go—there are far too many to list, to be quite honest. Each of our developers have their own pool of inspirations they pull from like any creative. Our Lead Designer loves obscure tabletop games, our Lead Writer likes to pull from 80s procedural dramas and classic films of the 40s and 50s, and our Art Lead—as well as our Creative Producer—love pulling from classic fantasy artists of the 80s such as Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo, and even Daggerfall. Our inspirations are as wide and deep as the ocean, and we proudly wear them on our sleeves.
What are some challenges you have had with The Wayward Realms as a crowdfunded game?
Budget & resources are obviously very limited. As incredible as the Kickstarter was, it is certainly not enough to fund the entire game, therefore we are focused solely on Early Access for the time being—which will be used to draw in full funding from potential publishers.
What are some other innovations you hope to make with The Wayward Realms?
We would love to take the same core systems that we’ve created for the Wayward Realms, such as the VGM, and apply them to other games in the future, we have a few ideas already lined up. As a tease, we’ve got some 40s pulp sci-fi goodness, hard science fiction, and even post-apocalyptic cyberpunk—but our lips are sealed beyond that.
Where do you see the market for RPGs going based on recent trends? Does it favour a game like The Wayward Realms?
The incredible success of Baldur’s Gate 3, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, and Tainted Grail is proof that the players want in-depth, system-rich, interesting RPGs. So long as developers continue to innovate, we see only growth for the RPG genre.
The Wayward Realms has been said to have been made with modding in mind, what are your hopes for community mods with The Wayward Realms?
We hope to provide a toolkit for modders to make it easier to create mods. Mods are a huge community-driven & creative outlet, we encourage it and look forward to what the community comes up with. We’ve even tossed around the idea of integrating overwhelmingly popular mods into the base game as optional toggles. Ultimately, we want the community to have fun and be able to customize their game to achieve the most they can.
What are some game mechanics you feel especially proud of including in the Wayward Realms?
The VGM and evolving world are really the primary technical aspects of this game, and we’re all immensely proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish with them thus far.
Rather than developing a game based solely on single triggers and single actions, such as completing the quest and automatically gaining this reward or that reputation, we’re developing something that can evolve with the player. Remember that fisherman you refused to help 3 weeks ago? Well, now he has returned and remembers you clearly, maybe he’s even seeking revenge after you unknowingly ruined his catch of the decade.
Right now the game is planned for PC but what are your plans for console versions in the future?
We will know more regarding console releases after a publisher deal is made, as these are typically details within those agreements. For now, our sole focus is PC release with the hope that we’ll be able to bring it to consoles in the future.
Is there any message you have for the readers at The Otaku Authority?
Thank you for reading this interview and for all the community support. We’re working hard on The Wayward Realms to bring a game both you and our team can be incredibly proud of.
We post updates, lore, and fun challenges on all of our social media- you can find us on your favorites at https://linktr.ee/oncelostgames
If you want to reserve your copy of Early Access for the Wayward Realms, you can do so @ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oncelostgames/the-wayward-realms/
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Those interested in the game can see an early video of the gameplay below
